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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25138672">A Little Less Different</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanficsandfluff/pseuds/fanficsandfluff'>fanficsandfluff</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hannibal (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Banter, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Medical Examination, Platonic Relationships, Teasing, Tickling, Ticklish Will Graham, Will Graham is Ticklish, physical</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 01:57:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25138672</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanficsandfluff/pseuds/fanficsandfluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Beverly and Will friendship. There is nothing I won't do for these two, I love them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Will Graham &amp; Beverly Katz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Little Less Different</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn't so much shame as it was embarrassment that Will Graham felt while sitting at FBI headquarters mere yards away from the morgue. Or was he closer than that? Yardage didn't matter. A probe was gently stuck into his right ear, bringing Will back to this present moment momentarily. It was an uncomfortable sensation. This physical reminded him of why he doesn't like doctors. Why take the physical at FBI headquarters, one might ask? </p><p>Will got hurt on their last catch. It was no one's fault, Will tried to reassure. There was a fleeting moment of uncertainty where Will experienced time-lapse, and he fell into a ditch. That was the first instance. While facing off with the killer, he was thrown into the corner of a mantle. Scathed but alive, that's what Jack called it. As much as Will demanded he be given leave to go home and heal, Jack wanted to make sure there was nothing more seriously wrong with him. It was his leg and back right behind his ribs that were the main sources of pain. Typical injuries and soreness, in Will's head. But Jack gave him that look and, well, here we are now. </p><p>"Lie down for me, please."</p><p>Beverly's calm voice resonated in Will's head as he obeyed her instruction. He'd just gone through the vitals checks, passing each with flying colors, he was sure. Will shivered when his bare back touched the icy metal table. Now he felt like he belonged in the morgue. A very corpse-like feeling encompassed him as the metal chilled his skin and likewise, he warmed the metal. </p><p>"Will."</p><p>Will's eyes focused on Beverly. She clearly had just said something to him and had gotten no response. </p><p>"I said loosen up a bit."</p><p>"The table's cold."</p><p>Beverly smirked, "I saw you shiver. Relax."</p><p>"In this position, am I wrong to have a fear that you'll start cutting into me?"</p><p>"Your only fear right now should be not listening to my instructions."</p><p>Will smiled. He was put at ease. Beverly rested her hands on Will's belly and started pressing around. Will could feel her cold hands through her latex gloves, but that wasn't his only thought as he sharply inhaled and grunted. Beverly paused and looked at Will's face. Having not worked as frequently with living subjects, she feared she was being too rough. She was checking for injury, after all, so maybe she hit a sore spot. She proceeded with slightly gentler touches. But again, Will tensed.</p><p>"You can let me know if I'm hurting you," she rested her hands on the table as she looked down upon Will's pale upper body. </p><p>"No, you're not hurting me. I'm sorry. Continue."</p><p>Beverly massaged just under Will's ribs and that one got him to shoot up from his prone position, arms coming forward to protect. Beverly stared with an agape mouth and was about to send him to the hospital for intense organ displacement when she heard a small titter.</p><p>New shivers coursed through Will's upper body and he made shy eye-contact with Beverly, "I'm ticklish," he admitted. </p><p>Beverly's look of utter alarm placated to a kind of smugness when Will came clean. </p><p>"Well, better that than injury. Lay down, I need to finish up," she let Will lay down once more before she continued. No organ swelling or odd lumps, though she did get him to giggle. When she felt just behind his right set of ribs, he winced from pain this time. Assessment with that finished, Beverly then rolled up Will Graham's pant leg and brushed her fingers around his leg. Swelling under his kneecap.</p><p>The crime scene investigator lifted Will's leg and rotated his ankle, "Does this hurt?"</p><p>Will responded, "It's uncomfortable."</p><p>Beverly finished her physical examination and peeled off her gloves after instructing Will to get dressed. </p><p>"Am I dying?"</p><p>"Not this time," she responded with her usual wit. Will liked that he could talk to Beverly like this. The jabs, the morbid humor. They bounced off each other well.</p><p>"Bruised ribs, swollen knee, and twisted ankle. Nothing a little R&amp;R in bed can't fix," she gave her analysis to Will, "I don't know how well you're gonna adhere to my prescription." </p><p>"I'll do my best."</p><p>"I think I'm going to have to check up on you."</p><p>"Well, aren't I the special patient."</p><p>Beverly grinned, "Goodbye, Will."</p><p>"Goodbye."</p>
<hr/><p>It turns out Will didn't listen very well, after all. Two days passed and he was keeping up with his day to day activities, concordant with his sleeplessness. He walked the dogs, worked on flies, thought about death and destruction and loneliness and mental illness... all of Will Graham's greatest hits. </p><p>He was rightly a little surprised when a knock came on his door on a sunny winter morning. He expected Alana, or Jack, or even Hannibal. They frequently checked on him; and it was always a worrisome house call. They'd be concerned about him or if it was Jack, he'd be picking him up to consult on the newest grisly murder. No one ever checked up just... cuz. </p><p>"Hey," it was Beverly who greeted Will when he opened his door for her. </p><p>"Oh," he sounded surprised because he truthfully was, "Hi," he looked past Beverly, thinking there was someone else with her. </p><p>"Can I come in?"</p><p>"I need house calls now?"</p><p>Beverly and Will exchanged small smiles. He stepped aside to let her in. She stepped inside and placed a hot coffee on his desk, "I didn't know how you liked it. I deduced no sugar, dash of milk."</p><p>"You would be almost correct. I like one sugar packet," he lifted up the coffee in his hand and took a sip.</p><p>Beverly groaned and snapped her finger, "Ugh! So close. I figured someone unstable might not want sugar."</p><p>"As in not want joy?"</p><p>"As in don't overanalyze coffee preferences."</p><p>Will smiled at that. Beverly walked around his home, taking a look at the bits and bobs of the place that made it home. She leaned down and pet a few of the dogs that brushed against her boots. </p><p>After Will took one more sip of the steaming, bitter coffee, "Can I ask why you're here?"</p><p>"We haven't had a new case since the last one, and no one's heard or seen from you since. I figured you needed something to think about."</p><p>"You figured I needed someone to talk to."</p><p>"That too," Beverly took a seat on the ottoman of a sofa chair. Winston came over and rested his chin on her lap. </p><p>"You're not a dog person."</p><p>"You can tell?" Beverly rested a gloved hand on Winston's head and gently pet it, "I always believed dogs gravitated towards people who they knew were uncomfortable around them."</p><p>Will smiled and he took a seat in the chair adjacent to Beverly, "To torture them?"</p><p>"To tease, or to convert."</p><p>"Is Winston converting you?"</p><p>Beverly set her coffee down on the floor carefully and removed her gloves. Once she did, she gave Winston a full petting and scratching. Will looked on. </p><p>"Thank you for the coffee."</p><p>"You're welcome," Beverly tucked some hair behind her ears after Winston trotted away from her to go to his dog bed, seeming proud and accomplished, "You haven't been relaxing very much, have you?"</p><p>"I'm doing the best I can."</p><p>"I don't want to be your nurse, I really don't... but if Jack needs you back in the field, he's gonna want Will Graham at 100%."</p><p>"That sounds like an impossibility. Will Graham has never performed at 100%."</p><p>Beverly watched how Will's eyes looked nowhere towards her. They didn't seem to focus on anything. </p><p>"Will you let me take another look at you?"</p><p>"You think you missed something?"</p><p>"No, I just want to do a little checkup. See how things are healing."</p><p>Will took another big gulp from his coffee and he walked over to his bed and sat at the edge of it. Beverly followed him and sat beside him. </p><p>"This doesn't seem like protocol."</p><p>Beverly looked at Will's face, his striking jawline. He was right. It wasn't. She cared about his wellbeing, physical and mental. If she could pay him a visit under the guise of medical work, then so be it. </p><p>She slipped her hand under Will's sweater to find the tender spot at the back of his ribs. The second her fingers made contact with the skin, Will gasped and he flinched.</p><p>"Your fingers are very cold."</p><p>Beverly grinned, "Being inside your icebox of a home isn't exactly helping," she teasingly traced her nails towards the front of Will's ribs and gave them a scratch. The consultant forced out a sputtering breath.</p><p>"I will repeat myself. This doesn't seem like protocol."</p><p>Beverly couldn't not smile now. She had Will here, in the safety of his own home, his dogs all around him, and now she was present. She needed to act on this, she may never get another opportunity to do so. Will froze, as did Beverly's hand. She kept her hand just barely touching Will's ribs, still under his thick sweater. It was just this extra pause of anticipation that bubbled up in Will's chest and he giggled sporadically when Beverly dug in. Will wiggled like a worm on a hook, unable to escape Beverly's hand. </p><p>"You're not a very good patient," Beverly teased and she introduced her other hand in the mix, all ten nails scratching and digging against Will's soft, tense skin. Will threw his head back as a louder laugh ripped through his lungs and he fell back onto the bed. It was very cute, Beverly couldn't lie.</p><p>"Beverly! B-Bev-- wahahait!" Will giggled away. He wasn't trying to shove at her attacking hands, nor really try to protect himself. It seemed all he was managing to do was wrap his arms loosely around his middle. Beverly was still able to access every curve and protrusion on Will's torso. </p><p>Beverly tried squeezing instead, and she latched onto both of Will's sides, allowing her thumbs to do most of the work digging into ticklish muscle. Will spasmed and he rolled side to side, his elbows pressing into his sides more now to try and lessen the sensation. </p><p>Will Graham's laugh was nothing like Beverly imagined. She didn't imagine it much, mind you, but she did think about it more than once. His laugh was deep and steady. Nothing she did really changed its pitch. Beverly scritched her hands to Will's belly and that's the first time Will reacted strongly to her tickling. He grabbed her wrists with his hands and tried pushing them out from under his shirt.</p><p>"Noho more, please," he giggled, face flushed red. </p><p>"You don't want a repeat physical?" </p><p>"More than anything, no."</p><p>Beverly shot her hands onto Will's belly again, even with him holding on, and she poked and clawed at anything she could. Will belted out more laughter. He snorted when Beverly scratched a nail around his bellybutton. When Will was snorting more than actually laughing, Beverly felt she betrayed him enough. She relinquished her ticklish hold on his bare skin and slipped her hands out from under his sweater. Will was panting on his bed, the tip of his nose having turned red from the fit of laughter. </p><p>"Is... Is it bad if I say I never want you as my doctor again?"</p><p>Beverly chuckled and she tucked hair that fell in her face behind her ear, "You're a pretty fun patient, I might have to recommend that we keep seeing each other."</p><p>Will smiled without provocation now and he sat up, "I really don't want to know how you're so good at that."</p><p>"Eldest child. Had a lot of practice."</p><p>Will looked at Beverly and his lips were quirked upwards. He had a friend in Beverly. It warmed his heart, almost more than the tickling warmed his body. </p><p>"Thank you for bringing me company. Just... don't tell anyone about... all of this."</p><p>Beverly smiled and she nudged Will's shoulder with her own playfully, "Wouldn't dream of it. Being ticklish definitely conflicts with your whole unstable, outsider persona."</p><p>"How so?"</p><p>Beverly considered it, "It makes you a little less different."</p><p>Will appreciated that statement. They sat in silence for a few extra seconds. One of the dogs jumped up onto the bed and made itself comfortable. </p><p>"I think I should take a look at that ankle now."</p>
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